Case Results

John has always led an extremely active lifestyle with being an avid jet-skier, hunter and participating in paintball. John also owns mules with his brother and often enjoyed his time with going on mule rides.

His once vigorous lifestyle has diminished as a result of his injuries. John is now limited to some walking and camping for a very short period of time.

John has endured a great deal of pain and numerous surgeries for his injuries. He attended a Rehabilitation Center where he had to learn to walk, bend, get out of chairs and other functions that most people take for granted. The injuries and surgery not only impacted his physical life, but his work life as well, resulting in being terminated from his job due to his condition. John will continue his road to recovery with only being able to work in a capacity rather than full time.

John's doctor stated that he will need more fusion surgeries and has a high risk of developing arthritis near the surgical area on his body. John has been diagnosed as being permanently impaired.

Marc Harden, an attorney at Bachus & Schanker, LLC, stated, "John has had to go through a lot over the past 5 years. I am pleased that the legal system has provided some justice for John’s tremendous ordeal."

MW, the daughter of Clinton and Sophie, with the help of the law firm Bachus & Schanker, LLC, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Denver District Court after the tragic death of her parents in October 2004.

Clinton and Sophie were driving home on South Monroe St. from their daily breakfast at the Village Inn in their Buick. As they were crossing the intersection of Mississippi Avenue, a 29-year-old man, who was driving a BMW sports car traveling more than twice the speed limit, crashed into Clinton and Sophie’s car. Clinton, 85, died at the scene of the accident, and his wife Sophie, 83, died later in the day at the hospital.

Clinton and Sophie had been married for more than 60 years. They were pillars of the Denver community, owning several restaurants including Andy’s Smorgasbord, which was one of the city’s first and most lavish buffet restaurants.

The Defendant, had a driving record that included more than 10 traffic collisions within the five years preceding the date of this accident. The speed limit at the intersection where the accident occurred was 25 miles per hour. Accident reconstruction experts estimated during the trial that the Defendant must have been traveling at least 60 mph in this residential neighborhood at the time he struck Clinton and Sophie. Evidence presented at trial indicated that the Defendant did not attempt to brake or slow down before crashing into Clinton and Sophie. Additionally, at the time of the accident, the Defendant was only driving with an adult instructional permit which required him to have a licensed driver over the age of 21 in the car with him at all times while he was driving. He did not have anyone in the sports car with him.

The Defendant never expressed any remorse or offered MW or her family an apology for his reckless, irresponsible conduct.

After the presentation of the evidence, the jury found the Defendant liable for $2 million in punitive damages as punishment for his willful and wanton conduct and reckless disregard for the safety of others. The jury also ordered the Defendant to pay MW $1 million for her grief, emotional suffering and loss of her parents, as well as nearly $200,000 in economic damages.

Prior to the February 2001 fire that destroyed her home, Kelly called her State Farm agent to come and appraise her home to make sure she was fully insured in case something awful happened. Her agent came to the home and afterwards assured Kelly that she was “adequately insured.” Unfortunately, Kelly’s insurance agent did not account for all of the custom features in Kelly’s home, and when the “awful” happened and her home was completely destroyed by a fire, State Farm told Kelly that she did not have enough insurance to replace her home or its contents. In fact, Kelly was essentially insured for only about half of the amount it was going to cost to replace her home and its contents. When Kelly told State Farm that was impossible because her State Farm agent had been up to the home less than six months before the fire and confirmed she had enough insurance, State Farm wanted to know if Kelly had any documentation to prove what she was saying. When Kelly said she had no documentation, State Farm told Kelly that the agent denied being up at her house before the fire. State Farm also told Kelly that State Farm’s own investigation revealed that Kelly intentionally chose to underinsure her home and that Kelly would need to come up with the other half of the money if she wanted to rebuild because State Farm was not going to pay for it. It was later learned that State Farm took this position despite the fact that the type of policy issued to Kelly was only available to those who agreed to fully insure their homes.

Kelly was referred to Attorney J. Kyle Bachus, a partner at Bachus & Schanker, LLC by another lawyer. The case was investigated and after giving State Farm one final opportunity to pay Kelly what she clearly was owed under the policy, Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a lawsuit. Mr. Bachus sued State Farm for Bad Faith Breach of Insurance Contract and for violating the Colorado Consumer Protection Act along with other claims. In addition the State Farm agent was sued for negligence and his Bad Faith conduct.

During the course of the lawsuit, Kelly’s version of the events was proven true. State Farm’s own internal documents showed that at the very time State Farm was telling KW that the agent denied going to her house, State Farm had learned from the agent himself that he had been there. When the agent was confronted with State Farm’s own internal documents at his deposition, the agent admitted that yes, he had been to Kelly’s home before the fire and yes he had called Kelly back afterwards to tell her she was adequately insured. State Farm’s assertion that the agent denied going to Kelly’s home before the fire was absolutely untrue. In fact, the agent testified that he specifically told State Farm that he had failed to take into account Kelly’s special-needs items when he evaluated the house. Bachus & Schanker, LLC also took the deposition of the attorney appointed by State Farm as an “appraiser”. During his deposition, the attorney admitted an ongoing financial relationship with State Farm and admitted that he had no experience as a property appraiser. The attorney also admitted that he specifically told State Farm when he was contacted about serving as an appraiser that he could not serve if doing so required the attorney to be impartial or disinterested. But State Farm decided to appoint him as an appraiser anyway.

After a long and fierce battle, Kyle Bachus, and the team of experienced attorneys at Bachus & Schanker, LLC were able to help Kelly resolve this dispute with State Farm, and State Farm eventually paid Kelly $3.75 million for her claim.

At the time of the collision, Lisa, a 28-year-old mother, had just dropped her 16-month old daughter off at day care before going to her job as a cleaning person at her Church. Lisa’s car hit a pole and rolled several times. Lisa suffered a compound fracture of the left ankle the right ankle, a broken leg above her left knee, a broken left arm, a broken elbow and internal injuries. Lisa was hospitalized for eight days at Denver Health and was transferred to Swedish Hospital, where she remained for another 16 days. Lisa was bedridden for over four months after this collision.

Prior to the collision, the at-fault driver, who had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, had been drinking at an all-night party after leaving her job as an exotic dancer.

Bachus & Schanker, LLC was forced to file a lawsuit on behalf of Lisa against the drunk driver in Adams County Colorado. At the trial, Lisa, her family and her doctors testified for two and a half days regarding the severity of her injuries, her ongoing rehabilitation, and the accident’s impact on her ability to work in the future. As a result of the testimony at trial, on November 17, 2005, an Adams County Court awarded Lisa $2.1 million in compensation for injuries she sustained in the automobile accident caused by the drunk driver.

As with most collisions involving semi-trucks, the trucking company was unwilling to take appropriate responsibility for the actions of its truck driver, so Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a lawsuit against the semi truck driver and the trucking company. Through the course of litigation, Kyle Bachus, a Bachus & Schanker, LLC founding partner, retained experts to evaluate Susan’s future medical and life care needs, evaluate her ability to work in the future, and put a monetary value to the losses she had suffered. These experts determined that Susan would never be able to physically run, ski, play softball or walk without a limp, and that she would be unable to hold anything in the palm of her right hand as a result of her injuries. Additionally, these experts estimated that Susan would have significant future medical care issues and probably face serious wage loss as a result of the catastrophic nature of her injuries.

Kyle Bachus, a founding partner of Bachus & Schanker, LLC fought hard in litigation to make sure Susan was fully compensated for her serious injuries. Bachus & Schanker, LLC submitted to the trucking company and its insurance carrier an extensive packet of summaries of Susan’s injuries and the amount of her losses, as well as before and after photographs of Susan. As a result, Susan was ultimately compensated $1.85 million for her injuries and emotional damages suffered as a result of this collision.

Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a lawsuit on behalf of Christy against Mr. F. and V.W. Credit, the owner of Mr. F’s car. Bachus & Schanker, LLC hired economists and life care planners to determine the future medical needs and life care expenses for Christy into the future. Christy ultimately received $1.74 million from the defendants to compensate her for her injuries as a result of this catastrophic accident.

Wes had more than $215,000.00 in medical expenses and Lucy had more than $279,000.00 in medical expenses. Unfortunately Wes did not have health insurance, nor did he have medical payments coverage on his motorcycle which would have paid some of his medical expenses. The experienced attorneys at Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a lawsuit against RA on behalf of Wes and Lucy. After Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a lawsuit against RA, RA’s insurance carrier, State Farm, agreed to settle this case in exchange for payment of State Farm’s $1.5 million policy limit.

At the time of the collision, John was a construction contractor and owned his own construction business. Due to the severity of his injuries, however, he was unable to continue working. He couldn’t lift heavy materials and he couldn’t climb on ladders. John was forced to find other work which did not pay as much as his contracting business.

John made an uninsured motorist claim with his insurance company, American Family, to compensate him for his injuries, his wage loss, and the cost of any future medical needs and loss of earning capacity. American Family refused to pay John anything. John’s policy with American Family required John to have his claim arbitrated if he disagreed with American Family’s decision on his claim. Because American Family refused to pay anything, Darin Schanker, a founding partner at Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a request for an arbitration.

In order to prepare for the arbitration, Bachus & Schanker, LLC retained experts to determine the future medical needs and wage loss issues that John would face in his future. These experts determined that John’s total future medical needs would be at least $31,092.00, and probably more. Additionally, the experts determined that John would probably have upwards of $250,000.00 in future wage loss as a result of not being able to continue with his own construction business.

In February 2006, the parties attended a three-day arbitration. For three days, John, his wife, his brother, his treating doctors and his experts testified about the seriousness of John’s injuries caused by this collision and how these injuries impacted his life and his ability to provide for his family.

After three days, the arbiters awarded John over $1 million including interest to compensate him for the injuries he sustained in this collision.

After the collision, Scott retained the law firm of Bachus & Schanker, LLC to help him with his claim. Through investigation, Bachus & Schanker, LLC learned that the 17 year-old did not have enough insurance to compensate Scott for the severe injuries he sustained in the collision. Therefore, Bachus & Schanker, LLC made a claim against Scott’s underinsured motorist coverage. Scott received medical treatment for over one year after the collision and his medical bills totaled more than $700,000.00. After Scott’s medical condition stabilized, Darin Schanker, a Bachus & Schanker, LLC founding partner, submitted a settlement demand letter to Scott’s insurance company. The parties were able to negotiate a settlement amount that will help take care of Scott’s medical needs, wage loss and pain and suffering now and into the future. The amount of the settlement is confidential.

The next day, Patricia continued to feel ill, experiencing headaches and nausea and a chill. She continued taking pain relievers for the headaches. That afternoon, Brent, a pharmacist, called the doctor and informed him of Patricia’s symptoms. The doctor did not instruct Brent to have Patricia return to the hospital at that time. Near midnight on that day, Patricia experienced severe abdominal cramping and she and Brent returned to the hospital where Patricia miscarried the fetus and she was diagnosed with a severe bacterial infection.

Patricia ultimately died as a result of the bacterial infection.

Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the doctor, the resident, the hospital and the doctor’s employer on behalf of Brent and Patricia’s two children. Had Patricia continued to receive antibiotic treatment while at the hospital after her initial transfer, she would not have developed the fatal infection and died. Had the doctor informed Brent to immediately bring Patricia to the hospital when he called on the afternoon of February 22, the infection likely could have been treated, and she would not have died.

On behalf of Patricia’s children, Bachus & Schanker, LLC retained numerous national experts to testify that the doctor and resident at the hospital acted below the standard of care in their treatment of Patricia. Additionally, Bachus & Schanker, LLC retained experts to determine the economic loss of Patricia’s untimely death to her two children. The defendants hired their own doctors and forced the attorneys at Bachus & Schanker, LLC to attend and pay for numerous expensive, out-of state depositions to determine the extent of liability in this case. After a long fight, the defendants finally decided to settle this case with Patricia’s children for a confidential amount.

At the time of the collision, Chris was chewing and swallowing tobacco and which caused him to have violent coughing attacks all day. Chris was also speeding at least 13 miles an hour over the posted speed limit at the time of the collision with the girls’ car. Chris had a history of reckless and unsafe driving, including speeding and a previous DWI while employed with the owner of the truck. However, Chris’s employer ignored Chris’s prior driving history and allowed him to continue driving for them.

Bachus & Schanker, LLC on behalf of Angela’s parents, sued Chris and his employer for for Wrongful Death under Colorado’s Wrongful Death Statute. Chris tried to say that Angela and Jessica failed to take evasive action and avoid his car and that somehow Angela and Jessica contributed to the cause of the accident, which caused their deaths. Chris insisted that he was faced with a sudden emergency because he was coughing and he couldn’t control his cough. Chris’s employer said it did not know that Chris posed an unreasonable risk of causing harm to others

During depositions Chris testified that he believes that speed limits are unconstitutional and that in order for a speed law to be constitutional, the law must be voted on by the people. Chris testified that he believes that speed laws are just a device by which the government extorts money from the people. Chris further testified during his deposition that he does not even bother to pull over to go to the restroom when driving. He testified that he uses a spittoon that he keeps in his vehicle as a urinal and further, he relieves himself while driving and then empties the urinal/spittoon out his window.

After a hard fought legal battle, where the liability of the driver was disputed, the parties attended a mediation prior to a trial and the defendants agreed to settle the case without going to trial. The amount of the settlement is confidential.

Prior to the accident, Jason, was a healthy man with no serious medical conditions or limitations. Jason ran a successful wallpapering business in Colorado that he started in 1965. However, as a result of the car crash, Jason sustained severe neck, back shoulder and traumatic brain injuries. As a result of these injuries, Jason’s doctors placed lifting, sitting, standing and walking restrictions on Jason, which prevented him from ever climbing on ladders, thus preventing him from continuing with his wallpapering business.

The driver of the van and his employer refused to adequately compensate Jason for his injuries, and as a result, Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a lawsuit against the driver of the van for negligence and against his employer for negligence and also for negligent hiring, training and supervision of the driver. The van driver’s employer failed to properly train the driver, and they also failed to adequately monitor and inspect the vehicle he was driving and conduct the proper background investigation checks. As a result, van driver’s employer allowed an untrained, unqualified driver, who was under the influence of drugs, to drive their van, and as a result the driver caused the collision with Jason.

Economist and vocational rehabilitation experts hired by Bachus & Schanker, LLC said that Jason would likely be unable to return to work in any job that he had done throughout his career and it was unlikely that he could successfully transition back to work in any capacity for the balance of his working years. As a result, the economist estimated that Jason had significant wage loss as a result of the collision and that he would have a reduced ability to earn money in the future.

Prior to trial, the parties attended mediation, and the defendants agreed to pay Jason to settle the case for a confidential amount.

Thankfully, Nancy and Ralph’s 1-year-old son was not injured in the crash. However, both Ralph and Nancy had serious injuries to their legs, hips and arms. Nancy had to undergo surgery which required the insertion of screws, metal plates and rods to fix the bones in her legs.

After the accident, blood test results showed that Michael had more than three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. It was discovered that he had been at a bar prior to the accident since about 5:00 that afternoon. Michael was a “regular” at the bar, and according to the bartenders would typically order one to three screwdrivers. In Colorado, in some cases, the place or person who provided the alcohol to the drunk driver may be responsible for any injuries the driver causes, if the person providing the alcohol knew or should have known they were serving a visibly intoxicated person.

The owner of the bar said that the bartenders didn’t receive formal training regarding the recognition and prevention of drunk patrons, however, he said he spoke with his employees about the signs to look for when someone has had too much to drink. According to a toxicologist, with the amount of alcohol that he had in his system, Michael would have been visibly drunk, stumbling, slurring, and virtually passed out. However, the bartender that was working on the night of the collision said he did not notice that Michael was drunk, but Michael testified that he only drank at the bar that night and did not drink any alcohol before or after he left the bar.

Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a lawsuit against the drunk driver as well as the bar where he was drinking. Bachus & Schanker, LLC founding partner, Darin Schanker prepared this case for trial. Nancy and Ralph were ultimately paid $325,000.00 by the defendants to compensate them for their injuries. Because of this amount, Nancy and Ralph have the security they need to take care of themselves and their family now and into the future.

At the time Randy was stopped, a southbound train passed through the intersection of 96th Street and stopped on the side of the track. However, the southbound train stopped only a few feet south of 96th Avenue, failing to clear the warning lights and gates and blocking the view of the mainline track for eastbound traffic. The gates malfunctioned and did not raise after the southbound train stopped. As a result, the cars in front of Randy went around the gates believing that it was safe to cross the tracks. Unbeknownst to those motorists and to Randy, the southbound train was stopped because there was another northbound train approaching and the southbound train was pulled over to let the northbound train pass. Also, because the southbound train was stopped so close the intersection, it blocked the eastbound traffic’s view of the approaching northbound train.

As Randy followed the cars in front of him and proceeded to cross the tracks, the northbound train passed through the intersection and collided with Randy’s car. Randy was killed in the collision.

On behalf of Randy’s wife, Bachus & Schanker, LLC filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the operator of the train, and the owner of the train, Burlington Northern. Randy’s wife claimed that the gates and warning lights malfunctioned because the southbound train (also owned by Burlington Northern) violated its own policies and procedures by failing to completely clear the intersection. Had the southbound train cleared the intersection, the gates would have risen and then lowered again as the northbound train approached, thus providing clear warning of a second approaching train. Additionally, Randy’s wife claimed that the operator of the train was negligent in failing to bring the northbound train to stop because he clearly saw that traffic was proceeding around the closed gates.

Prior to going to trial on this matter, the parties attended a mediation and agreed to settle the claim. The amount of the settlement is confidential.